columbia wrote:Can you coach concentration, because I'd like to see that.

To a certain extent, yes. Only way it'll work is if the player maintains it.

Interesting question. I always wondered if you could teach hockey sense, and I think the answer is, to all these type of questions, "yes...to an extent" - Tyler Kennedy will never have Sidney Crosby's hockey sense, but if you spent untold hours going over things with him, evaluating film, controlled drills/scrimmages, etc. you could probably make a fair amount of head way...

Some players that I've had in the past - beginners or those that just flat out told me that they've never had a coach before - have received some film breakdown from me - either live or via e-mail - where I chop up a play and show them what's happening, why, what should have happened, what's not happening, etc.

It helps. It's not so much what can you teach and what can't you teach...but the player's willingness to learn it and utilize it. Some players don't want to learn. Some have no desire to better themselves on a tangible level. Most are weeded out before they hit the pros, so we don't see them...but some sneak through on talent...Pavel Brendl, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Phil Housley come to mind...

I'm taking a Sport Psychology class, and we've been going over issues like focus. As a coach, there's only so much you can do. The players have to be able/willing to execute. He (referring to Fleury) also has to maintain his focus in practice as well as in game. There's a pretty strong correlation between practice and how you will perform in game.

columbia wrote:Can you coach concentration, because I'd like to see that.

To a certain extent, yes. Only way it'll work is if the player maintains it.

Sports Psychologists would tell you that athletes require this focus, and coaches must eliminate most of the thinking players have to do in-game.

I would probably argue that any goalie is one season away from having to find his next stop. These are usually guys that get out performed by the guy behind them, which Fleury has not been since he's been here. Not sure Vokoun is going to do it either, but this is the first time it could happen.

In regards to the idea of coaching Fleury's concentration, Bylsma could certainly take a hard stance on how he practices. We've seen him play it up for the cameras, and his reputation is that's a regular thing... kind of goofing around in practice. Eliminate the goofing around and get him in the right mindset.

tfrizz wrote:In regards to the idea of coaching Fleury's concentration, Bylsma could certainly take a hard stance on how he practices. We've seen him play it up for the cameras, and his reputation is that's a regular thing... kind of goofing around in practice. Eliminate the goofing around and get him in the right mindset.

Eliminate the goofing around and it is extremely possible Fleury becomes less focused. I mean lets be for real, last year Fleury was a damn stud until the playoffs (and shortly before but still.) So for the majority of the season Malkin and him carried a 6-8 seed into a 4 seed. But because of a bad 3 week stretch, a stretch in which arguably the Pens showed their true colors, he played poorly behind a team that was not defensively responsible. Fleury was in the zone for 23 straight games. That is one hell of a run for any goalie and yet he can't focus. Silly stuff really.

tfrizz wrote:In regards to the idea of coaching Fleury's concentration, Bylsma could certainly take a hard stance on how he practices. We've seen him play it up for the cameras, and his reputation is that's a regular thing... kind of goofing around in practice. Eliminate the goofing around and get him in the right mindset.

Where did he get the reputation that goofing around in practice is a regular thing? Anyone who makes that assumption based on the couple practices they see highlights of during a game has no idea what they are talking about. No one here knows how Fleury or any other Penguins handles practice. To say one way or another about any player just blows my mind.